Annotated link resource for expats in China. Connect with your local laowai.

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CHINA ELEVATOR STORIES

In China, it’s the little things that will make your day. It could be a conversation with a stranger in an elevator. Or in a cab. Or on a bus. On the metro. On a train. In a street side restaurant. In the supermarket. On the street. In public toilets. Or in other words, just anywhere you can imagine. China Elevator Stories captures these snippets of life in China and helps to communicate some of the culture and lives of everyday people.

The author of the site is an Austrian woman living in Shenzhen, married to a Chinese man, and publishes her stories of chats with locals three times a week. These conversations are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always well-written and indicative of what living in China is truly like. This is social and cultural commentary in its purest form.

“Daye [uncle] is still waiting for me to raise my glass. If it was only raising a glass! While you raise your glass, you also have to say a line that goes something like that: “Daye, I show you my respect (大爷, 我敬你).” I really don’t know how to do this.

When daye sees that I’m still not moving, he tells his sister-in-law: “I’m in a bad mood.”